"His wife?" Joey hissed at her friend and she stared at Aden until he nodded in confirmation.
"Can't remember what her name is, but he was definitely married when I worked with him."
"When was this?"
"An arson case earlier in the year," Aden replied. "He was the lead uniform on the investigation and so we worked together for the three days it took us to catch the arsonist."
"That didn't take very long."
"Because the arsonist was an idiot," said Aden. "The day after I was assigned to the case, he set another fire and then proceeded to drop his wallet on his way out."
"Oh shit," Joey said with a chuckle.
"It's always nice when the crooks make it easy for us."
"That really is hilarious, but now back to the married guy flirting with my friend," Joey said. "What's his deal?"
"Joey, I barely had a chance to get to know the guy outside of work."
"But he's definitely married?"
"Definitely," he said. "His wife once came by the Station to see him while I was there."
"Why do I get the feeling that even though you can't remember her name, you could provide a detailed description of her?" Joey said in mild bemusement.
"Well, she was a looker, that's for sure."
"Then why is he flirting with another woman."
"You could always ask him that yourself," Aden suggested. "Since he's coming this way."
Even from here, Joey could see the flush to Leah's cheeks that matched her smile as she watched Peter walk away from her. Joey glowered as the man now approached them.
"It's Det. Jeffries, isn't it?" Peter said, extending his hand out to Aden. "I thought it was you when I came in," he said. When he saw the bandages on Aden's hand, he grimaced and pulled his hand back. "Shit, sorry about that."
"You weren't to know," replied Aden. "And it's Aden," he said.
"Peter Baker," he said, glancing enquiringly at Joey.
"And this here is my best friend, Joey Collins," Aden said by way of introduction.
"Nice to meet you Joey." If Peter was at all perturbed by her frosty reception, he didn't show it. "Are you just in town while you're indisposed with your hands?" Peter asked of Aden.
"Actually, I was here to work on a recent arson case and decided to stay on during my recuperation, since Joey was already here," he said. "What about you?" said Aden. "I'm surprised to see you here."
"Well, you might need to get used to it, since I'm going to be working here on a full time basis," Peter said with a grin. "I'm the new Snr Const at the local cop shop."
"You're Rosetta's replacement," said Aden and Peter nodded in reply.
"I thought you weren't due to start for a couple of weeks," Joey said.
"I'm not, but I had some leave owing, so thought I'd take it and head down early so I could look around for a place to rent and get settled in before I start work."
"And will your wife be joining you shortly?" Joey asked in a less than subtle manner.
Peter's brow went up at the tone in Joey's voice and when he caught her look toward the counter, he suddenly twigged to what she was implying. "Oh, you thought I was trying to pick up the lady behind the counter while my wife remained oblivious."
"You did look like you were flirting with Leah," Joey said.
"That's because I was," Peter said. "Leah seems like a lovely lady."
"She is."
"Leah is a friend of Joey's," Aden informed Peter. "And she's rather protective of anyone she calls a friend."
"And I take it that includes protecting young damsels from married letches like me."
"Your words, not mine," Joey said. "You are married, aren't you?"
"Yes, I am married," replied Peter. "And no, my wife will not be joining me here, since that lying hussy will be too busy shacking up with whichever poor soul next falls into her web of lies."
Joey winced at the bitterness in his voice and felt bad for having thought the worse of him. "Sorry," she murmured.
"It's ok, you weren't to know my marriage was over," he said.
"What happened, if you don't mind me asking?" Aden said.
"Jazz, my wife, was always a free spirit, I just never realised how free she was with her spirit," Peter said. "Part of me had always suspected she was stepping out on me, but I turned a blind eye to any possible infidelities as I felt I was partly to blame for being such an inattentive husband," he explained. "That all changed two months ago when it became impossible to ignore any longer after I caught her with one of the neighbours, and then the very next day, I discovered that our teenage son wasn't mine." Peter sighed with a shake of his head. "I may have eventually forgiven her for the cheating, but she had destroyed whatever trust I had for her with her greatest lie. She had always known that I wasn't Drew's dad, yet had lied to me about being his father, just so she could trap me into marriage," he said. "And to top that off, I discovered his dad is none other than my own brother."
"Oh shit, I'm sorry mate," Aden said.
"Dan swears it was just a drunken mistake and it probably was, but he never said anything about it and that's what I can't forgive," Peter said. "Jazz and I had split at the time, so if Dan had been honest from the beginning, Jazz would have been history and Dan and I could probably have moved past it, but he kept his silence, even when Jazz told me she was pregnant and I agreed to get back with her and marry her, Dan said nothing."
"Did he know the baby was his?"
"He suspected, but Jazz convinced him that she was further along and so the baby had to be mine." He shrugged his shoulders in defeat. "I just can't forgive either of them right now and it's why I needed to get away from them and start afresh in a new town."
"I don't blame you," Aden said. "Does Drew know the truth?"
"Yeah he does now," he said. "As far as he is concerned though, I'm still his dad and I feel exactly the same way. He's my boy and I will always treat him as such, even if Jazz or Dan no longer like it. Dan was never there for him as a father or an uncle and he can go fuck himself if he thinks he can now take my place in Drew's life." Peter sighed heavily. He hated being angry, especially at his brother. They'd never been the closest of brothers, yet they'd still loved each other. They were family, which was why this hurt so much. "God, I can't believe I just blurted all of that out," he murmured.
"It's this place," Joey said. "There are no secrets here."
"So I've been warned."
"Can I add a warning to those you've already received?" Aden said with a cheeky grin toward Joey.
"Sure, why not," said Peter. "Fire away with this warning."
"It's just that you'd best be nice to this lady here, because she's your boss' missus."
Peter turned to Joey and reached for her hand, before kissing the back of it. "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance your divine one," he said in a highly exaggerated posh manner. "I am forever at your service, o divine one."
"Oh, you'll do just fine here," Joey said, her cheeks flushing at the attention.
"If you're the current Sergeant's girlfriend, then you're also the ex Sergeant's ex, aren't you?" he said.
"Yep, that's me," Joey said. "How did you know?"
"The inspector filled me in on some of the dynamics of the Station and the rest I got from the press."
"I hope you don't believe everything you read in the press."
"God no, they're mostly a bunch of blood sucking leeches that would eat their own young for a story, whether it's factual or not."
"I'll tell my girlfriend you said that about her," Aden drolly said.
"Oh shit, I've gone and put my foot in it again, haven't I?"
Aden grinned at Peter in reply. "Nah, it's a fairly accurate description of most of the press I've met over the years," he said. "And since Belle is about to start working for our media unit, she'll soon be one of us."
"Hey that's great," Peter said. "I take it that you'll be heading back home soon then."
"Tuesday," replied Aden. He heard Joey's sigh. "When I leave, you'll have to keep an eye on Joey here for me," he said, ignoring Joey's protests. "Keep her out of trouble."
"As long as it doesn't get me into trouble with the boss."
"Hello, I'm right here," Joey said, waving her hands in front of their faces. "And for both of your information, I don't need any eyes on me except for my hot girlfriend's."
"Charlie is definitely hot," Aden said.
"I haven't met her yet, but since she's my boss, I'm going to offer no comment on that," Peter said. "Ever."
"Oh, you really are going to do just fine here," Joey said.
Joey stood back and admired their latest purchase.
"That is a big tree," Charlie murmured.
"It fits, which means it's perfect," Joey stated.
"Barely," said Charlie.
"Ruby was the one who chose it."
"For someone who wasn't too interested in decos, she's sure changed her tune."
"Maybe now that you two have become three, she thinks it's more of a family Christmas now."
"I just hope she doesn't expect this every year though," Charlie said. "Not sure my bank balance could handle it."
Joey laughed. "At least Ruby offered to put the decorations up herself," she said.
"Which we'll end up helping her with any way," Charlie pointed out.
"Of course and you'll grumble and grouch the entire time while secretly enjoying it."
Charlie's sheepish expression confirmed to Joey that she was right.
"Just remember to let Ruby put the angel on top," Joey told her.
"Yes ma'am," Charlie said with a mock salute.
"Leave that behaviour for the bedroom."
"Even better," smirked Charlie.
"Heel girl," Joey said when Charlie started to make the moves on her. "We haven't even had tea yet."
"I say we skip straight for dessert," Charlie suggested.
"What is for dessert tonight?" Ruby asked as she walked into the lounge with a box of Christmas decorations.
"Yeah Charlie, what is for dessert?" Joey asked her blushing girlfriend.
"Dessert will be at the diner," she quickly recovered. "My shout."
Ruby looked between the two women and shook her head. She really didn't want to know what had actually been going on in here. "So, I heard about the new guy," she said. "What's he like?"
"Peter seems nice," Joey said. "I liked him and so did Leah."
"Same here," said Charlie. "He stopped by the Station to introduce himself to everyone and going by their reactions, I think he's going to be a great fit here," she said. "He also has an exemplary record."
"Well anyone would be an improvement over Angelo," Ruby said, then glanced at Joey. "Sorry, Joey."
"Why, you're completely right," Joey replied. "Angelo had the potential to be a fine officer, but he let himself down by allowing his personal feelings to intrude upon his professional judgement," she said. "He was always so unfair to Georgie and for no real reason."
"I don't think we'll have to worry about that happening with Peter," said Charlie. "I have an idea he knows how to deal with prickly characters and how to get the best out of them."
"Georgie's not prickly," Ruby said in defence of her cousin.
"Yeah she is," Joey said.
"Ok, she is," said Ruby. "But she's far less so these days."
"Thank god," all three said at the same time. They looked at each other and burst into laughter.
"I hope you're still laughing in the coming weeks," Joey said to her girlfriend between chuckles.
"Why wouldn't I be?"
"Because Aden and Belle are leaving on Tuesday."
"And you'll miss Aden like crazy," Charlie said as she slipped her arm around Joey's waist. "Joey, he's not moving to another state, he's just going to be up the road an hour or two," she said. "And they'll be back in town for Christmas and for other visits."
"That's not quite what I was getting at before," Joey said.
"Then what?" Charlie said in confusion.
"Only that you might not be laughing so much, when you're the one with Georgie while Belle is safely an hour or two up the road."
Charlie frowned as it finally sunk in what this meant. Then her expression became one of horror. "Oh god, I'm going to get stuck with wedding planning duties." Her horror was absolute amusement for both Ruby and Joey and they couldn't hold back their laughter.